Tag Archives: westerns

This is the text of an introduction I gave at a re-release screening of Johnny Guitar at the British Film Institute on May 6th 2016 I saw Johnny Guitar for first time here at the BFI to whom I”ll always … Continue reading →

The Unforgiven (1961) – The Searchers in reverse This is about the back ground to the April 6th documentary I made for Radio 4 about the Western in British culture. You can listen again here: Archive on Four documentary Riding … Continue reading →

In Jeanine Basinger’s book on the old Hollywood studios’ star-making system, The Star Machine there is a great little section on how Doris Day became a huge name, while the similarly talented and wholesome Rosemary Clooney did not. Basinger put … Continue reading →

Played out via helmet cam, Hollywood-style still photos released of the Commander-In-Chief, in the Situation Room supervising the kill. For an operation that was reportedly a year in the planning, an elementary understanding of the history of the American West … Continue reading →

I’ve always loved The Shadows, and when important figures in music die amidst major world events, I feel sad that their contribution gets overlooked. Jet Harris, apparently one of the first people to play electric bass guitar in Britain, as … Continue reading →

I’m of the generation supposed to be blessed with the Golden Age of children’s TV (the 70s and early 80s). Fortunate enough to be on the Royal Television Society jury judging Children’s TV and TV Drama this year, I was delighted to see … Continue reading →

Ain't There Anyone Here For Love by avinot In my early 20s I started working my way through a lot of old movies I hadn’t yet seen. When I sat down to watch Gentlemen Prefer Blondes this eye popping clip of Jane … Continue reading →

A long time ago, when all the grandfathers and grandmothers of today were little boys and little girls or very small babies, or perhaps not even born,” the Wild West was still – just about – in living memory. And … Continue reading →

This is the full version of my Guardian article published in November 2010, about why I chose her as my specialist subject on Celebrity Mastermind. What Laura Ingalls Wilder still teaches us about independence, and living through an age of austerity. … Continue reading →